title: How to report reliability in orthodontic research: Part 1.
abstract: In reporting reliability, duplicate measurements are often needed to determine if measurements are sufficiently in agreement among the observers (interobserver agreement) and/or within the same observer (intraobserver agreement). Some reports are often analyzed inappropriately using paired t tests and/or correlation coefficients. The aim of this article is to highlight the statistical problems of reliability testing using paired t tests and correlation coefficients and to encourage good reliability reporting within orthodontic research. With regard to the complex issue of reliability, a simple and singular statistical approach is not available. However, some methods are better than others. A graphic technique based on the Bland-Altman plot that can be simultaneously applied for both intra- and interobserver reliability will also be discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Donatelli
authors.forename: Shin-Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018865:Dental Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D009970:Orthodontics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011336:Probability; D015203:Reproducibility of Results